Don't know if this will help anyone, but whats the harm if it doesn't. My Gold membership was just about up and I know that they just upped the cost for a year. Haven't seen too many specials out there except one free month. I was just in BEST BUY looking for something unrelated when I came across the pre paid membership cards for XBOX LIVE. They are now selling all their cards which have old games marked on them (example- Madden '10) for $34.99 for a 1 year Gold Membership. Don't know if other stores are doing this or not. I think it just saved me some $$$$ hope this helps someone.

You should sign up for xbox rewards. You get ms points when you renew your year gold membership. If I remember right, the site is rewards.xbox.com check it out. You get 200 ms points when you renew. The Jerk told me about this also.